


Militat Omnis Amans, Et Habet Sua Castra Cupido

by nothing_but



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Banter, High School, Implied Sexual Content, Latin, M/M, Mentor Louis, One Night Stands, Teacher Harry, Teacher Louis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 05:39:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10915443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothing_but/pseuds/nothing_but
Summary: “Sorry to interrupt you, gentlemen,“ the headmistress said to the group of teachers, drawing their attention to herself. “If I may introduce our newest staff member to you, this is Mr. Styles. Mr. Styles, meet Mr. Horan, Mr. Aoki, and Mr. Tomlinson.““Nice to meet you,“ Harry mumbled, his eyes wandering from one teacher to the next when his glance stopped at Mr. Tomlinson. He had to physically shake his head, trying to draw his mind away from whichever fantasy it had fallen into. This couldn’t be. Harry felt petrified, staring at the man who was fixing him with an equally intense glare. This was impossible.ORWhat Harry needs least on his first day at his new job is his recent one-night stand turning out to be his mentor.





	Militat Omnis Amans, Et Habet Sua Castra Cupido

**Author's Note:**

> Please READ THE NOTES, as they are actually important for understanding this!!
> 
> I refer to this fic as "High School AU" but the school system I'm describing actually doesn't map onto the American High School system. The system I'm familiar is the Austrian one, which is what I'm basing this fic on (with some liberties taken). 
> 
> Here are the most important points to avoid confusion:
> 
> \- Students between 10 and 18 attend this school (it's kinda like middle and high school combined)  
> \- Forms go from 1-8, and if you want to know the kids' ages, you just add a 1 before the class number (for example kids in the class 3A are turning 13 in that school year).  
> \- It is the teachers which run around during breaks going to another classroom and NOT the students! Each class of students has a designated classroom, teachers do not. This also means that students have the same classmates in (almost) every class, but that's not so important.  
> \- Every teacher needs to have two subjects, not just one. 
> 
> That said, Harry and Louis are both Latin teachers, but you don't need any knowledge about Latin, you'll be fine. It's just that I love it. The title is Latin, of course, and translates to "Every lover is a soldier, and Cupid has his military camp, too". It's a rather famous quote from Ovid's Amores. :3
> 
> Thanks go to my beta [alldirectionsleadhere](http://alldirectionsleadhere.tumblr.com). If you ever need a scarily fast but still thorough beta, Amy is who you'd want to ask! Thank you so much!! :)
> 
> This fic is part of the High School challenge, check out all the other fics too! Thank you to the organizer, of course!

Walking up the last flight of stairs from the subway, Harry felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He fumbled around trying not to disrupt the people walking in all directions behind him. After he had finally managed to fish it out of his pocket, he glanced at the display. He saw his mother’s smiling face beaming up at him when he pushed the button to answer her call.

 

“Hey mum,“ Harry said after he had accepted the call.

 

“Harry, love, I just wanted to wish you good luck and an amazing day today! How’s it going so far? Are you there yet? How are your colleagues? The headmistress?“ his mother babbled on excitedly.

 

She was clearly much more excited than Harry himself was. If he was being honest, he wasn’t feeling any of the excitement he had expected or any of the enthusiasm he had still had a few days before.

 

“I’m on my way there, mum. I just left the subway, I’ll be there in three minutes,“ Harry explained, rearranging the backpack he had slung over his left shoulder casually.

 

“Oh so exciting!“ his mum exclaimed. “I hope you have a great day. Call me in the evening and tell me everything, alright?“

 

“Sure, sure,“ Harry agreed, feeling his stomach twist even harder. He felt as though his insides were literal knots, getting tighter the closer he got to the school. Not that he would admit it to anybody, least of all his mother, but he was clearly nervous, fidgeting with his backpack, his necklace and his curls in turns. “Let me hang up now, I’m almost there, alright?“

 

“Oh yes, yes, definitely!“ Harry’s mother agreed enthusiastically. “Until later, darling! I know you’ll be great!“

 

“Thanks, mum, bye,“ Harry answered. He then lowered his phone from his ear, simultaneously pressing the red hang-up symbol. Harry sighed as he shoved his phone into his pocket again.

 

The building was already in his sight, and even if he were to walk as slowly as possible, he would be there in no more than five minutes. There really was no backing out anymore, was there? Harry had been working towards this for months, no, years! However, right now, he wasn’t quite sure if this was _it_. Did he really want this?

 

Harry stopped to give the building a closer look. Sure, he had seen it before, he had had his job interview there, and he had walked past it even before then. Still, he had never looked at it the way he did right now; with an increasingly twisting feeling in his gut, sweaty hands, and all the prepared words wiped from his memory.

 

Finally, and with greater force of will than he would care to admit, Harry made himself get into motion again, Somewhere during that process, a backpack nearly hit him in the face, snapping him out of his anxious mind and back to the present. The student was rushing past Harry, crossing Harry’s way right in front of him. When the boy tried to jump to the side, Harry almost ended up with a backpack, which was probably full of books, square in the middle of his face.

 

Amazing start this is, Harry grumbled to himself. It wasn’t like his stomach being turned completely upside down was enough, now he had to start his very first day with a backpack almost smashing his face. Really fucking fantastic.

 

Now even more on edge than before, Harry walked up the flight of stairs leading inside the school building. He nervously checked his phone. If he was already late he might as well call it quits, turn on his heel, never enter this school, and look for an entirely new profession. Hadn’t he read just days ago that the supermarket across from his apartment was hiring…?

 

Brushing these thoughts off, Harry took one last deep breath, squared his shoulders, and stepped inside the school building.

 

Harry measured his steps to the directory office, using his deliberate pace to try and calm his nerves. Smoothing over his trousers and his wild curly hair one last time and wiping his sweaty palms best as he could, Harry knocked on the door of the office.

 

 A voice shouted “Come on in!“ Harry reluctantly opened the door. This meant no return. Maybe he could still faint and be allowed to go home?

 

Harry stepped into the office and closed the door behind himself. In front of him was a petite, but resolute-looking woman standing up from her desk chair to greet him. She was wearing a plain dark green dress and a slight smile on her face. Still, Harry got the impression that she wasn’t one to cross if he wanted to have a pleasant time at this school.

 

“You must be our new teacher, Harry Styles, right?“ the woman asked when Harry didn’t manage to find his words to greet her first.

 

“Yes, I am, hello,“ Harry finally forced out the words awkwardly, feeling like an utter idiot. He hadn’t even managed to walk into an office and introduce himself properly, how was he to be in charge of a whole class of kids?

 

“Excuse my behaviour, it’s the nervousness,“ Harry hurried to say, trying his hand at some damage control. “I’m Harry Styles, nice to meet you.“ He extended his hand towards her over her desk and they shook hands.

 

“Don’t worry, it’s only natural to be nervous on your first day somewhere new,“ the headmistress said, a small smile crossing her face.

 

“Thank you, thank you so much, I’m glad to be here,“ Harry replied, relieved that she didn’t take it personal and wasn’t judging him harshly after that poor first impression.

 

“Let me introduce you to your mentor right away, he’ll show you around and make sure you have everything you need and can get started feeling comfortable with us,“ the headmistress suggested, leading Harry out of the room. “I’m sorry that I’m too busy to take you around the school and show you everything in detail myself, but you’re always welcome to drop in at my office if you have any pressing issues you can’t work out with your mentor.“

 

Harry followed the headmistress through a corridor to the staff room. There were many teachers heading towards or leaving it. Most of them gave their headmistress and Harry a friendly nod or a “Good morning“ before rushing on. Everyone seemed too busy to ogle Harry in detail. And after all, it probably wasn’t so unusual to get new teachers, Harry thought.

 

“Now, where is he?“ the headmistress mumbled when they had entered the staff room. She continued looking around in an effort to locate the person who would be Harry’s mentor; meanwhile, Harry just tried to focus on taking in the room that would be part of his new working place.

 

Made to accommodate roughly a hundred teachers, the room was quite large. Every teacher had a small desk and a chair assigned to them, most of which were loaded with school books, stacks of handouts, students’ exercise books, writing materials, and much more Harry couldn’t categorize on sight. On the walls, there were cupboards, which Harry assumed were used for storing teaching materials as well. Teachers were standing together in little groups, chatting, some gulping down their first-lesson coffee. Others seemed to be collecting the material needed for their first lessons, rummaging around in their heaps of teaching material. Harry could hear one rather hysterical-sounding teacher asking another whether he had taken the triangle ruler she had planned to take to her class.

 

“Oh there he is!“ the headmistress suddenly exclaimed, pointing towards three teachers at the far end of the room who had their backs turned towards the door. Harry hurried to follow her as she had already strode off.

 

“Sorry to interrupt you, gentlemen,“ the headmistress said to the group of teachers, drawing their attention to herself. “If I may introduce our newest staff member to you, this is Mr. Styles. Mr. Styles, meet Mr. Horan, Mr. Aoki, and Mr. Tomlinson.“

 

“Nice to meet you,“ Harry mumbled, his eyes wandering from one teacher to the next when his glance stopped at Mr. Tomlinson. He had to physically shake his head, trying to draw his mind away from whichever fantasy it had fallen into. This couldn’t be. Harry felt petrified, staring at the man who was fixing him with an equally intense glare. This was impossible.

 

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to kidnap Mr. Tomlinson for a minute, he is to be Mr. Styles’ mentor,“ Harry heard the headmistress say. It all felt surreal and distant, as if someone was speaking to him while he was only just waking up from a dream.

 

The group mumbled their agreement, casting last glances at Harry and mumbling “welcome“ and “sure“ before walking away.

 

Harry, however, was frozen to the spot. He was still just staring at his mentor, his eyes having gone comically wide and his mouth hanging open unattractively. He was sure that he must be quite the picture, but couldn’t be bothered to try and keep it together. Numerous flashes of action were coming back to his memory within a single moment. Groping hands, hot, demanding kisses, huffed breaths and quiet moans, fingertips sliding down a lean, sweaty back, his own whimpers, a satisfied sigh…

 

It couldn’t be true but it _had_ to be. Maybe Harry’s mind was just playing tricks on him?

 

“You were… I … last Friday…“ Harry mumbled confusedly without thinking. Mr. Tomlinson was still staring at him with the same intense glare.

 

“Oh yes, yes,“ Mr. Tomlinson laughed, obviously unable to hide that he felt extremely uncomfortable in this situation. He seemed to desperately trying to shut Harry up before he could accidentally tell the headmistress anything she definitely didn’t need to know.

 

“Do you already know each other?“ the headmistress asked, confusion audible in her voice at the two teachers’ strange behaviour.

 

“Oh, erm, I think we do,“ Harry’s mentor tried to save the situation, “if I remember correctly, we have a mutual friend, don’t we?“

 

Harry only managed to nod, still paralyzed.

 

“George isn’t it, right? You know him as well,“ Louis added, nodding firmly at the headmistress and mastering a smile that seemed only slightly forced.

 

Harry did not know anybody with the name George.

 

“There aren’t so terribly many Latin teachers, one often ends up getting to know the others,“ Louis elaborated, if only to cover the awkward silence that stuff hung in the air around them.

 

“Oh I imagine,“ the headmistress agreed, even though she didn’t seem one hundred percent convinced. “I’m sure you’ll work together fine, then.“

 

“I’m sure we will,“ Louis said, a special tinge to his voice making Harry blush slightly immediately.

 

“Very well, I’m sorry that I have to rush away now, but I’m certain that you two will manage just fine without me. Show Mr. Styles around a bit, please, Mr. Tomlinson, before your lessons start, preferably, and make him comfortable. I hope you have a great first day“, she said, turning her full attention back to Harry. “I will check in with you again in a few days.“

 

With those words, she turned and was gone, all before Harry’s mind had fully processed what had just happened.

 

And well, now there was only Mr. Tomlinson left standing in front of him, still focusing his full attention on Harry. The school year was set to be a very uncomfortable one, Harry thought, how could it be anything else? Maybe he could ask for a different mentor, but which reason should he give?

 

The truth was not up for discussion. “I’m sorry, I know it sounds unbelievable, but I’d like a mentor that I haven’t casually slept with recently and who unexpectedly ran out on me after a night spent together?“

 

No, that was not an option, Harry had to admit to himself. He ran his hand through his curls before taking a deep breath. “I guess you have to show me around then?“

 

All in all, Harry was off to a fucking fantastic start at his new job… Right?

 

 

 * * *

 

 

“Did Ms. Panner give you your schedule?“ Louis asked after a few moments, finally breaking the awkward silence that had spread between them. They were just leaving the staff room, which was mostly empty by now. The first lesson of the day had started, so most of the teachers had rushed off into their respective classes, in a whirl of satchels, books, and half-used pieces of chalk.

 

“She did, yeah,“ Harry affirmed. “We’re going into… which class was it again? 3A I think? In the next lesson, right?“

 

“Exactly, the 3A are my youngest ones, they have only just gotten started with Latin. I actually prefer teaching the upper grades to be quite honest, there’s just more variety in the texts they can deal with, it never gets boring. Talking about ut-sentences does get boring after years of doing it.“

 

“Well, my didactics professor at uni,“ Harry said, “told us that if we didn’t think that ut-sentences are the sexiest thing out there in God’s great universe, teaching Latin probably wasn’t for us.“

 

Louis shot Harry a look. “Sexy?“ Louis wordlessly raised his eyebrows at Harry before he repeated “Sexy, sure“.

 

Harry wanted to crawl into a hole. His first day at this school? Amazing, it was going just bloody amazing. Not only had he been assigned the man he had slept with last weekend as his mentor, which, technically, he wasn’t at fault for, right? But to make matters worse, he was now talking about the sexiness of grammatical phenomena with this exact man. Great. Fine. Fan-fucking-tastic.

 

The only thing Harry was sort of glad about right now was the fact that he had chosen to say “ut-sentences“ and not “cum-sentences“, which his second choice of Latin grammatical phenomena would have been.

 

How had he thought that it was a good idea to bring up that anecdote? Harry made a mental note to think more before speaking. Normally that actually wasn’t a problem of his, seeing as he was a rather slow speaker but a quick thinker nevertheless. Apparently, this didn’t apply when he was around Louis. A lot of things somehow didn’t seem to apply when he was around Louis.

 

“Anyway,“ Louis said, clearing his throat, and mercifully pulling Harry out of his head, “please keep your fetish for Latin grammatical phenomena to yourself.“

  

 

* * *

 

 

“Louis, man! Come on in, the 5C made fresh pasta, there’s still some left!“ Steve exclaimed when he saw Louis closing the door to the household economics classroom behind himself.

Louis sighed heavily and sank down into the nearest chair at the large workbench in the middle of the huge kitchen, which was Steve’s kingdom.

 

“What happened to you?“ Steve asked, concernedly. “Bad day? Is it something to do with your new mentee?“

 

“Yeah,“ Louis sighed, not giving any further explanation.

 

“So? What’d he do? What’s he like?“ Steve pushed on, having moved to the still steaming pot of pasta to shovel some onto a plate, which he pushed in front of Louis.

 

“He’s… he’s…,“ Louis struggled to find the right words. “He’s like, well you’ve seen him, he’s literally sex on legs, and to make matters _worse_ he’s also like, I really don’t know what to do with him, how to like, _handle_ him? I mean, I have no idea so far how his teaching is, obviously, he’s still just observing me, but his insights into my teaching? Steve, he’s _good_ ,“ Louis groaned, his head in one hand while he grasped his fork to pick at his pasta with the other.

 

“What’s the problem with that?“ Steve asked, taking a seat next to Louis at the spotted workbench. “Except that you sound like you’re in a mental conflict with yourself over whether you want to fuck him or not. Which, for the record, seems to me like a separate issue from the pedagogical questions.“

 

Louis just groaned even louder. “Too late for that I guess.“

 

“ _What_?! Are you being _serious_?! You’ve known him for like three hours, you’re in a school building for heaven’s sake, how did you _do_ that? Also, he’s your mentee and co-worker, come on!“

 

“Not _here_ , not _now_ ,“ Louis corrected quickly. “I met an amazing guy last weekend, went home with him, but in the morning I panicked cause I liked him so much but didn’t know whether I wanted a relationship just yet and… everything was moving too fast, I don’t know…. Anyway, I ran out on him. Well, I spent the rest of the weekend beating myself up over giving away that perfect guy. And now get ready for the biggest karmic joke in the history of the universe. When I then get back to school on Monday, thinking that I can forget about it now, guess who I get to mentor?“

 

“This exact same dude?“ Steve completed, incredulous.

 

“This very same. It is him for sure, he recognised me too, of course. What a shit show that was.“ Louis sighed again, rolling spaghetti with his fork and putting it in his mouth.

 

“That’s indeed a shit show,“ Steve mumbled, stroking his beard.

 

“And you know the stupid shit he says?!“ Louis started up again, exasperated. “He talks about the sexiness of ut-sentences! And he asked me whether I knew the research motto in ancient history! If he were at least dumb as hell or a terrible teacher so I could justify hating him, you know?!“

 

“I know. But well, he’s a Latin teacher after all, those tend to have some kind of eccentric humour, speaking from personal experience,“ Steve replied with a smirk. “And generally, I actually do think that it’s not ideal to hate one’s mentee, just an opinion…“

 

“Of course not!“ Louis argued exasperatedly, attacking his pasta with his fork some more instead of eating it. “But is it ideal to have slept with one’s mentee?“

 

“Probably not,“ Steve admitted. “Maybe you can talk it out?“

 

Louis shook his head violently. “No way, I’ll just try to let him work on his own in his classes as soon as possible or something I guess.“

 

“Okay then, I guess. It’s not like you would take any advice anyway when you’ve gone into stubborn mode,“ Steve joked. “Oh, before I forget, what is the motto in ancient history?“

 

“What you can’t explain, to cult it must pertain,“ Louis said, miserably.

 

 

* * *

 

 

After only three lessons, Mr. Tomlinson had told Harry that they were done for the day and Harry could go home. Monday was his shortest working day and they also didn’t have anything more to discuss yet, as Harry was only observing him teach for the first week. And well, since everything between them was way too awkward and too full of unspoken tension, having some coffee together and talking about school and lessons wasn’t really an option.

 

This was why Harry found himself standing somewhat lost in the staff room behind his desk, which of course was right next to Mr. Tomlinson’s. Mr. Tomlinson had grabbed his books and his satchel, had said a stiff “until tomorrow“ and rushed off to God knows where.

 

“Oi, mate, how’s your first day going so far?“ Harry turned around to see who had approached him and was now talking to him. It was one of the teachers who had been standing with Louis when the headmistress had introduced them. Harry couldn’t quite remember his name, though, as he had been too shocked at seeing Louis.

 

“We met this morning, I’m Mr. Horan,“ the guy thankfully introduced himself once more. “But please call me Niall, I hate all this stiff Mr. and Ms. and whatever else thing.“

 

“Great, I’m Harry.“ Harry gave him a wide smile, grateful that at least someone was friendly and welcoming.

 

“Where has Louis gone? I saw him rushing off in a hurry?“ Niall asked.

 

“I don’t know, he didn’t say,“ Harry shrugged. He thought he noticed a distinctive accent in Niall’s speech, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Maybe he was Irish?

 

“That’s not like him!“ Niall exclaimed. “Somewhat rude, isn’t it? Well, who knows what happened. You teach Latin, right? What’s your second subject?“

 

“It’s Ancient Greek, but it doesn’t get taught here, sadly. But headmaster Panner said that maybe an elective will be installed, Ancient Life or something of the sort, so I could teach that and get a bit of Greek in there.“

 

“That’s cool, mate!“ Niall said. “I just did the bare minimum of Latin at uni, cheated my way through the final exam, yah well, it wasn’t my thing I guess.“

 

“It’s just not everyone’s thing, I’ll admit that,“ Harry laughed. “So what do you teach, then?“

 

“Music and Geography. And I also lead the school choir. Wanna come see the music room? I’m pretty sure it’s empty now.“

 

“Sure, definitely!“ Harry agreed, enthusiastically. Maybe everything wouldn’t be so bad if he managed to make a friend on his first day. After all, it was probably just like being in high school as a student. As soon as you had a friend, it was going to be okay. And well, this Niall guy seemed an excellent candidate.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Morning,“ Louis greeted Harry when they met in the staff room on the next day. Harry couldn’t help but feel a pang of hurt when his mentor didn’t even bother to properly look up from the student’s textbook he apparently found incredibly interesting. He had thought naively that maybe, just maybe, Louis had gotten over the shock of seeing his one-night stand turn out to be his mentee, and would now get it together and would be somewhat nice to him.

 

Apparently not.

 

“Good morning,“ Harry replied, trying to hide how his heart had fallen to his knees.

 

“What’s our first lesson today?“ Harry said, fumbling with the rings on his hands nervously. It wasn’t that he didn’t know, he knew their schedule almost by heart already, he was just desperately looking for a way to end the uncomfortable silence.

 

When Louis looked up with a sigh, Harry already regretted his choice. It must seem to Louis as if he hadn’t even bothered to look up today’s timetable before coming to school this morning.

 

“I mean…“ Harry scrambled to try and salvage the situation, but immediately realized that it was hopeless. He couldn’t flat-out tell Louis that he had only been looking for something to fill the awkward silence with.

 

“First lesson we have the 6B, then 3A right afterwards, then there’s a free period, then 4A two lessons, then 8C,“ Louis recited their entire schedule for the day.

 

“Thanks,“ Harry said awkwardly, giving Louis a shaky smile. “Busy day, isn’t it?“

 

“It is,“ Louis replied drily. “That’s why we should get going right away. Take those exercise books, right there on my desk, please?“

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Good, well, how about you give your first solo lesson sometime next week?“ Louis asked. They were sat in the teachers’ lounge, which was basically nothing but a small room crammed with sofas and chairs that didn’t fit together well, a coffee machine, and a few teachers who were taking a break, sitting on the sofas, looking exhausted. One of them was even lying on the sofa he was occupying completely, his arms folded across his face.

 

Louis and Harry were sitting by the window, textbooks and handouts spread out between them on a small coffee table. Louis was hardly meeting his eyes, but they were talking at least, and in a somewhat friendly manner too. So, improvement, right?

 

“Yes, I think that would be good,“ Harry agreed. He was indeed eager to start teaching on his own as soon as possible. On the one hand, he really was looking forward to doing what he had been training for for all these years. And on the other hand, the sooner he started teaching and the sooner he could lead the lessons independently, the sooner he wasn’t stuck with his mentor all the time anymore, thus freeing Harry from the oh so pleasant social/professional minefield he’d been stumbling his way through so far. Sure, he had to consult him throughout the rest of the school year, but he wasn’t required to trail after him anymore.

 

“Which class would you like to start with? I suggest you build it up slowly, so that you don’t get overwhelmed.“

 

“Of course,“ Harry agreed. “So, I’ll take over the 3A, 7C and 4B from you, right?“

 

“Exactly,“ Louis confirmed. “Maybe don’t start with the 4B right away, they can be a bit of a handful, I mean, you’ll see when you get to know them today, they’re in the middle of puberty, and quickly get out of control if you don’t have a firm grip on them.“

 

“Oh, I see, yeah,“ Harry said. “What about the 3A, then? I quite liked them.“

 

“Sure, good idea,“ Louis agreed, looking up from the timetable in his hand that he had been staring at very intently. He only looked at Harry briefly, before he averted his gaze again. Harry could swear he even saw a slight blush creeping up on his mentor’s cheeks.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Louis was eager to get Harry to teach his own classes as soon as in any way possible. This was the only thing Louis could think about while he was trying to explain the AcI to his 14-year-old students, who seemed to care exactly none about this fascinating grammatical phenomenon.

 

Louis couldn’t remember a time when he had had more problems staying focused on his job and on grammatical phenomena. He was aware that he was making a terrible job of explaining the AcI correctly, and he couldn’t really blame his students for doing literally everything except paying attention and following his weak explanations.

 

But well, Louis wasn’t to blame either, was he? It certainly wasn’t his fault his ridiculously attractive mentee was sitting in the back of the class, notebook on his lap, legs crossed, fixing him with a stare that Louis was sure could see right into the deepest parts of his soul. Whenever Louis looked away from the blackboard he was writing on and to the students, he couldn’t avoid Harry’s gaze.

 

Harry was intensely following Louis with his eyes, observing every single movement interestedly. It was his job to observe everything as closely as possible, but… did he _have_ to look at Louis like that in the process? Didn’t he have to at least blink every once in a while?

 

“I … no, well, you see, it’s called AcI because, like, that’s an abbreviation, right? For Accusativus cum Infinitivo, you see? There is no finite verb, but an infinitive, in this sentence here, and then, there’s an AcI, I mean, we also need an accusative, so like, a verb, no, no I mean a noun of course. A noun in the accusative,“ Louis said, struggling terribly to explain something he had explained dozen of times before.

 

He couldn’t wait until _he_ could be the one to put Harry in the same position. Maybe it was cruel to wish for one’s mentee to stumble through their first solo lessons, but could he be blamed? Could he really?

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Erm, Mr. Tomlinson?“ Harry said, trying to get Louis’ attention. His mentor was talking to a group of other teachers, most of whom Harry had only gotten to know fleetingly.

 

It felt indescribably weird to call his mentor by “Mr. Tomlinson“ after having spent a night moaning “Louis“. Even after this week, Harry hadn’t managed to forget that one night. In Harry’s defence, it had to be said that it had been a spectacular night indeed, from the first groping hands to the moment when Harry had suddenly woken up to an empty bed.

 

Considering all of this, it felt incredibly weird and stiff to stick to “Mr. Tomlinson“, even when they were outside lessons or earshot of any students. But well, Louis hadn’t offered him to go by first names, even though it seemed common between teachers at this school, the headmistress who strictly stuck to surnames excluded.

 

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr. Tomlinson, but the copy machine just… I don’t know, ate the paper? I think there might be a jam and I don’t know how exactly to fix it.“

 

Louis sighed quietly, but followed Harry without complaining. Harry was sure that Louis must have seen the look in his eyes, and had decided to hold back any sneery remark that might have already been on the tip of his tongue.

 

Harry was indeed close to crying right in the middle of the staff room, the rims of his eyes burning with the tears he was desperately trying to hold back. He could not show such weakness to his mentor, bursting into tears right then and there because of a fucking _paper jam_. He was sure he’d still have to deal with paper jams hundreds of times throughout his teaching career, but all reason was out of the window in that moment. This was the single-handedly worst thing that had ever happened to Harry.

 

“Come on, don’t worry, let’s go fix it,“ Louis said encouragingly when he saw that Harry was in fact struggling hard to keep it together.

 

Harry said nothing, he just trotted to the copy room behind his mentor.

 

“Don’t worry about it, really,“ Louis repeated. “Paper jams happen all the fucking time, it’s likely you didn’t do anything wrong at all. You know, printers, scanners, copy machines, all those things, they can properly _smell_ your fear when you’re in a hurry and really want something printed or copied. And that’s when they start acting up just because they like being petty.“

 

Harry gave him a small smile and a nod while wiping at his eyes inconspicuously.

 

“So first, I always try giving the copy machine a bit of a kick if it refuses to work,“ Louis said, laughing when he saw Harry’s shocked expression. “I was kidding, honestly, relax,“ Louis laughed. “I’m sorry if you think I’m a rude barbarian, but I normally don’t kick school property. Nor actual people, of course!“

 

“Well, I actually hope that you’re not a true, original barbarian and that your Greek is excellent, but I haven’t had a chance to test it yet,“ Harry managed to joke, a smile sneaking back onto his face. He watched while Louis was pressing a few of the copy machine’s buttons and pulling out various paper drawers.

 

“Ohh, Mr. Teacher, or am I to call you Magister Doctus soon?“ Louis didn’t miss a beat to follow Harry’s weak attempt at a joke. “I’m not accustomed to such educated humour. I must admit, though, that my Greek is quite rusty, so I might actually be a bit of a _barbaros_.“

 

Harry smiled, worries forgotten over a dumb classicist joke.

 

“Ah, I think that was it,“ Louis exclaimed all of a sudden. He had pulled a few crinkled pages out of the copy machine, which was now making seemingly cooperative noises again. The first few pages the machine spit out, however, where not what Harry expected. He certainly had not demanded the machine copy handouts about percentage calculations, had he?

 

“For me personally, those maths exercises are more in need of translation than the average Latin text, but I guess that’s not what you were hoping to copy,“ Louis said, amusedly. “Don’t worry about it, someone obviously struggled with the paper jam before you already and just left the problem to the next person - don’t do that, by the way, that’s just rude - and those pages were already stuck in the queue.“

 

Harry left school that day with a good feeling. He didn’t quite know if he could trust it yet, but everything was looking a bit better to him now. Things were moving upwards, he would be fine.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this first part! Leave me some feedback in the form of kudos and/or comments to help me with deciding where to go with this fic from here! :3
> 
> You can find me at [languages-and-else](http://languages-and-else.tumblr.com) which is not a one direction blog, but please don't let that deter you from hitting me up there! :D


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